https://www.twincities.com/2020/03/04/a ... ge-safely/
3/4/2020 After emergency crews respond to report of people lost in St. Paul cave, 3 emerge safely
St. Paul firefighters and officers responded to a cave early Wednesday after a woman reported her friends went inside and hadn’t come out.
Three men were found uninjured, but the incident at Crosby Farm Regional Park prompted a warning from the fire department.
“Entering the caves is not only illegal, but it is also extremely dangerous,” said Deputy Fire Chief Roy Mokosso. “Structural stability of caves changes, especially during seasonal changes like we are seeing now as the snow melts and the ground thaws. There is reduced air flow in caves and carbon monoxide poisoning is a real risk.”
Officers were called to the park off Shepard Road shortly after midnight on a report of two males possibly lost in a cave near Watergate Marina.
Police talked to an 18-year-old woman who said she, along with another woman and two men went to a cave to explore, said Steve Linders, a St. Paul police spokesman. While inside, she said a person they didn’t know approached and asked them to come further inside the cave to see something, according to police.
The two men decided to go, while the women left the cave. They waited for their friends to come out for approximately two hours, called their cell phones and received no response, and were concerned for their safety, Linders said.
The St. Paul fire department’s technical rescue team responded and they escorted people out of the cave, Mokosso said.
Police issued citations for trespassing to three men — a 23-year-old from Minneapolis, a 20-year-old from Champlin and a 19-year-old from St. Paul — and two women — both 18, one from Ham Lake and the other from Robbinsdale, according to a police report. They were released at the scene.
The cave had been sealed previously for safety reasons and the seal was vandalized to gain entry, according to Liz McDonald, St. Paul Parks and Recreation spokeswoman. Parks and Rec is working to have the cave sealed again, and with the police department to increase patrols in the area.